By Dr. Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant · Updated September 2026 Big 4 vs MBB. They differ in one basic way: McKinsey, BCG, and Bain sell strategy advice to senior leaders, while Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG are audit-born networks whose consulting is mostly technology and implementation work. MBB pays more, hires under 1% of applicants,…
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Updated July 2026 · By Florian Smeritschnig, Former McKinsey Senior Consultant Consulting brainteasers are short logic, math, or lateral-thinking puzzles used by tier-2 firms, the Big 4, boutique consultancies, and in-house consulting teams to test structured problem-solving under pressure. McKinsey, BCG, and Bain almost never use them, so if MBB is your target, brainteasers are…
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Updated July 2026 · By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant To answer “Why consulting?”, lead with the work itself, the variety of problems, the speed of learning, and early exposure to senior leaders, then back it with a specific example from your own experience and connect it to why you want that firm. Keep…
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Updated July 2026 by Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant You can grind through 50 practice cases and still walk into your McKinsey interview with no idea whether you’re ready. That’s the trap. Volume without feedback just cements the same mistakes, case after case. A case interview feedback sheet fixes that. It’s a scorecard that…
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By Florian Smeritschnig, former McKinsey Senior Consultant · Updated July 2026 The Kearney recruitment test is a 60-minute online assessment with 40 multiple-choice questions covering quantitative reasoning, verbal reasoning, and case-style data interpretation. Correct answers earn 5 points, wrong answers deduct 1, and no personality traits are measured. Most candidates lose this test on the…
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Florian spent five years at McKinsey as a Senior Consultant and is a highly experienced consulting interviewer and problem-solving coach. Having conducted interviews with hundreds of candidates, he understands exactly what top-tier firms look for in successful applicants.
He founded StrategyCase.com to make top consulting careers more accessible by providing tailored, up-to-date insights into the recruiting process. Recognized as the most successful case and fit interview coach, Florian has helped his clients secure 700+ offers at MBB, Tier-2 firms, Big 4 consulting divisions, in-house consultancies, and boutique firms over the past four years.
He is the author of “The 1%: Conquer Your Consulting Case Interview,” “The 1%: Case Interview Workbook,” and “Consulting Career Secrets”, all available on Amazon.
